


The Seneshchal's Daughter

by MeloAnnechen



Category: Girl Genius
Genre: Gen, Jaegermonsters being Jaegermonstery, Jägerkin are schmot guyz but hide it well, barracks lawyers, bedtime stories for warrior children, hyu ken't eat chust vun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-19
Updated: 2015-02-19
Packaged: 2018-03-13 17:58:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3390890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeloAnnechen/pseuds/MeloAnnechen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A rather long time ago, there was a great and terrible spark of the Heterodyne line by the name of Vlad. His mind was the raging lightning storm dancing across the highest mountains. It was he that outshone all of his peers and siblings, and like the lightning storm, his brilliance burned those unwise to remain too close and unprotected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Seneshchal's Daughter

**Author's Note:**

> This is an old tale of the Jägermonsters (written more than a few years ago) that managed to be not too terrible upon review. The mature content warning is there because the Jägermonsters and the old Heterodynes can be somewhat shocking to those not used to the idea, and because the "hyu ken't eat chust vun" joke is kind of sick if you haven't suspended your disbelief enough.
> 
> The concepts of Jägermonsters, and Vlad, Lord Heterodyne are property of Studio Foglio LLC or Airship Entertainment. 
> 
> This story is not approved by, sponsored by or affiliated with Studio Foglio LLC or Airship Entertainment. 
> 
> However, you **should** go read [Girl Genius](http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php) if you have not. Take a week or so to dive through the archives!

"Mama, Mama! Tell me a story?"

The mother in question put her book aside, and said, "Of course dear, but I thought you liked your father's stories better?"

"Sometimes..." with a grunt, the girl child vaulted the arm of the comfy chair and bounced into her mother's lap, "but it is your turn tonight, and I want a family story."

The child's mother pursed her lips, and raised her eyebrows. A moment's consideration, and she turned to the others in the drawing room, asking, "Do you think she might be old enough for some of the secret stories?" The girl's father shrugged, the others nodded in agreement and she replied, "You're right, it has been a long time, and this is ancient history."

The child's eyes had brightened at the word _secret_ and she snuggled in with rapt attention.

>>>

A rather long time ago, there was a great and terrible spark of the Heterodyne line by the name of Vlad. His mind was the raging lightning storm dancing across the highest mountains. It was he that outshone all of his peers and siblings, and like the lightning storm, his brilliance burned those unwise to remain too close and unprotected.

Of the many powerful and horrendous things he built in his reign, the longest-lasting of his legacies is chemical in nature. This was the potion that came to be called the Jägerbrau. He sought to create soldiers that each were stronger than ten draft horses, faster than the swiftest of hunting cats, fiercer than the Great Bears and loyal only to him.

Greatness is not achieved overnight, and neither are the terrors that are Things Which Man are Not Meant To Know. The earliest versions of the serum proved fatal to all who consumed it. The early failures did not deter young Vlad, and as his studies of the corpses of the corps kept him entertained, the family generally left him to it. Through trial and error, a working formula was developed. The first squad of monstrous soldiers were the tool by which young Vlad ascended the seat of Lord Heterodyne, over the objection (and in some cases, the bodies) of his detractors.

He worked on the formula throughout his life, attempting to make it better. It clouded the memories of many, so that they only remembered their vow of service to him. This pleased him so greatly, the Jägerkin who retained their memories of homes and lives before taking the drink took to pretending they could not remember either. He worked to reduce their abilities to have children so as to have fewer drains on their time and thoughts. He encouraged their hunting instincts, pointing them to his neighbors' keeps, and thus expanded his house's holdings.

The years passed, and Vlad, Lord Heterodyne, decided he needed an heir. Despite his tampering in the domain of the Builder of All,  he chose a more traditional route, and set about finding a bride. He studied the successes of his peers and rivals, and selected a wife from a House with strong sparks and healthy tendencies. He then went to retrieve his intended, over the objections of her family (and herself).  But he prevailed, and Sofia of Tepes was carried off to be a broodmare.

The Betrothal Battle is best left to your father to tell, for I do not have sufficient research at hand to do it justice. Suffice to say, there was one less holding for the House of Tepes when he was done, and the daughter of the house carried away. She did not take kindly to her abduction, for she was in the middle of her studies. Vlad scoffed at a woman having "important researches" and locked her in the Lady Tower.

Now, I have read much from multiple original sources that stated Lady Sofia was most comely, and there are indications that had the traditions of the day been less pig-headed, she might have been a spark to reckon with, had she received any training. Be that as it may, she was, by the opinions of her contemporaries, a most lovely and  intelligent woman. 

Which means, of course, she and Vlad despised each other almost from the start. She scarred him on their wedding night, and after he recovered, he weighed his options. The traditional ways to rid one's self of a wife at the time was to kill her outright, have her excommunicated or for her to die of natural causes. Killing her would mean he had wasted the better part of a year to get her, with no profit and less time in the lab. 

The second option would involve the better part of a year to set up. Even sequestered in the Lady Tower, she was a true daughter of the church, and the accusation she was a heretic would not fly without a bloodbath. Not that he didn't enjoy a good massacre now and then, but it was high summer and he really had all the spare parts he could use before they went bad. He did not consider that his current appellation outside his lands was "Vlad the Blasphemous" would help this argument either.

That left natural causes. Unfortunately, there was a natural cause he could engineer.

So, he had the castle stores of pennyroyal burned, and set about getting an heir, and perhaps a few spares besides. After the births of Jan, Petru, Gheorghe, and Radu in rapid succession, Vlad thought he might have hit on the proper combination, as he was getting a good pool of candidates for the succession. True, his wife seemed to not succumb to the frailties of repeated  births, but she was a pleasant enough fixture in the castle, as long as he didn't have to listen to her.

Then came Celestine.

Much had been made over the ringing of the Doom Bell for the boys, and the townsfolk were a tad confused when the bell rang, but no heir announcement was made. Many assumed the child did not live, and left it at that. The nurses made much over the little girl, and while they did not neglect the boys, Vlad had no use for a girl as a marriage pawn. He intended to gain land, not lose it for dower-gifts. He began talking of fostering the child out, but had no intention of letting another House have her as a hostage.

He could have had the child dropped from the highest tower, but that was in full view of the Lady Tower, and he still bore the scars from the last time Lady Sofia had decided he had overstepped the bounds. He considered dropping _Lady Sofia_ off the highest tower, but that might send the wrong message, that he could not control his wife. He handed to child off to one of the Jägerkin, with instructions to get rid of the girl.

Now, Vlad may have intended for this to be fatal, but you have to be careful when you give orders to the 'kin, especially when the one you are speaking to is also a barracks lawyer.

Unfortunately, Vlad had also chosen one of the Jägers who did retain his memories of life before service to the House. When the sergeant picked up the girl from the nursery, he made the mistake of looking at her. The child bore a passing resemblance to another baby, one who had _not_ had the luck to survive her first year. 

Rather than take the child to the cliff face, which was in view of the Lady's tower, the sergeant had been instructed to take the child out through the swamp gate. This suited the sergeant fine, as his plan was to see how far he could carry the child in a night and a day, and perhaps find a farmstead out in the mountains that could support another child.

Normally, he might have gotten away with it, if it were not for the meddling Bürgerin. The cycle of the town council had come about that there were efforts to "beautify" the town, and though they could do nothing about the grim fortifications looming over the town, the Ladies Council had decided they could plant something to distract the eye from "that great lump", as the mayor's wife called it, when she thought no-one could hear.

So, the Jäger is going out the swamp gate, and runs into a great gaggle of the Bürgerin, armed with myriad gardening implements. His appearance interrupted the seneschal of Castle Heterodyne lecturing the ladies exactly **why** they would not be permitted to plant ivy and morning glories at the foundations of the Castle.

Now, the Jägerkin were not as well known for their ferocity then, being a group that was only two decades old at the time. So they were not immediately fearsome other than their outward appearance.

The ladies backed off, but were still within hearing, when the seneschal asked pointedly, "Where do you think you are going with that baby?"

This Jäger, not wanting to let on he was skinning around with his orders, and not really wanting to be anywhere around the Bürgerin without permission to hunt the odious women down, thought quickly. Unfortunately, the first thing he thought of was an improvisation -- something about having finished the other four babies, and that he was no longer hungry -- did the Seneschal know where this one could be stored until he wanted it?

The seneschal stared blankly at the sergeant for a long moment, then quirked one corner of his mouth and held out his arms for the baby. "I will take care of it. Now, Sergeant - please escort the ladies back to the town square, and see that they get home safely."

"Ho, schure, Herr Sen'chal, Hy mek schure dy is goot und safe," and the sergeant gave a wide and toothy grin. The ladies took off as quickly as their burdens permitted, and the Jäger followed them as far as the square.

Which means there were no reported witnesses to the Seneschal taking little Celestine home, and meeting his wife who had just come down from the ancestral home in the mountains, and telling the tale. She was a good and kind woman, and agreed to raising the baby as their own daughter, virtually under Vlad's nose.The tale spread about Jägerkin eating babies, and Vlad smiled at it, delighted with how brilliantly he'd designed his terrifying pet monsters.

>>>>

The girl chewed her bottom lip, musing. "Is that where the 'Ever-So-Many-Greats-Uncle' thing comes from then?" Her parents nodded, watching her reaction.  She slid from her mother's lap and went to hug her father. "I am still going to call hyu Papa."


End file.
